Walmart to Debut Amazon Prime Challenger This Month

Walmart Inc. will introduce a subscription service this month to compete with Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime program, Recode reported this week, citing unidentified people familiar with the plans.

Walmart+, as the service is known, will cost $98 a year and include perks like same-day delivery of groceries and general merchandise. The retailer pushed back its original spring launch date due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While panic-buying helped boost Walmart sales to record highs earlier this year, its U.S. e-commerce presence remains about an eighth the size of Amazon’s. Grocery is the one category online where Walmart maintains a firm leg up on Amazon, so Walmart’s aim is to get its grocery shoppers to add more non-food items to their basket with a suite of perks including express delivery, discounts on fuel at Walmart gas stations and access to a new online entertainment platform called CAMP by Walmart.